A challenge for every person, both young and old. It is very simply: Be kind! (Click this image to read the poster!)
Have you heard of the Great Kindness Challenge? I hadn’t, until today.
The Great Kindness Challenge is put on by Kids For Peace, and I learned about it while I walked this morning through the International Non-Profits Fair in Balboa Park. (I’ll blog a little about this inspiring event shortly.) I was really struck by a thoughtful Kids For Peace poster challenging school students to engage in acts of kindness.
What an excellent idea! It seems this reminder to be compassionate, helpful and polite might apply to people of all ages. Sometimes we adults, during our hectic, numbing day-to-day routines, might benefit from a little lesson about the importance of having a warm heart and positive outlook!
Here are just a few of the 50 challenges. These are appropriate for both young and old…
Life can be very busy. Some days go by in a blur. So I often don’t have time to fully appreciate the enormous, wonderful world that surrounds me.
That’s one reason why I love to walk, haul my camera around, and write.
Unfortunately, one must constantly attend to life’s small stuff. You know–daily business, errands, dull routines. But I’ve learned that I can always–no matter where I am or what I’m doing–open myself to new wonder. Here are a few unusual mental exercises. They help to stimulate your mind, so that you can see the world more fully.
1. Name every object you see.
That’s right! As you go about during an ordinary day, find the word or words that describe every object you happen to see. In your mind, name everything that exists in front of your eyes. Add descriptive adjectives and adverbs. You’ll see more than you did before, and perhaps in a new light. You’ll have greater awareness of the world around you, even the small details.
2. Search for objects of a specific color.
Select a random color. Then as you move through your day, consciously search your surroundings for ordinary objects of that color. Do this and you’ll become acutely aware of the appearance of things–not just their color. You’ll appreciate the world’s richness and innate beauty. You’ll see how all things fit together. Try it!
3. Search the horizon, and imagine what’s beyond it.
From time to time, when outdoors, focus your eyes on the horizon. What can you see there? Can you imagine what probably (or possibly) lies just beyond the horizon? What do you think is going on in that unseen place? Or better yet, on a pitch black night look up at the stars. What is going on there?
This exercise broadens your view of the universe and helps you grasp its entirety with your mind. That is–to the extent we humans can grasp such immensity!
4. Examine the world inches from your eyes.
Standing next to something? Put your nose right up close and examine it! Do you find yourself in a boring old office building’s lobby that has a painting on a wall? Look at the brush strokes! Waiting on a sidewalk under an ordinary tree? Look closely at the bark or the leaves!
Closely examine those things that happen to be nearby. Analyze precisely. Renew your wonder. Perhaps pretend you’re a giant, surveying a fascinating, miniature world. Because in a sense, we all ARE giants–when the mind is stimulated, curious and growing.
5. Imagine the world in the future, or in the past.
Where are you? Slowly turn to look all around. Now imagine your immediate surroundings in the near or distant past, or in the near or distant future.
San Diego, the bustling place I call home, is relatively new compared to most cities. A couple hundred years ago–which isn’t long at all–Southern California was essentially a wilderness. So it’s interesting to imagine San Diego with no buildings, no streets, almost no sign of human life. Just canyons and hills, covered with sagebrush and dry chaparral.
How did my growing city appear a hundred years ago? Fifty years ago? And why do things appear as they do today? How might things change tomorrow? A hundred years from now? A thousand years from now? A million years from now?
This unusual mental exercise helps you to appreciate the world’s fullness in both space and time. And it stimulates your imagination!
6. Imagine people around you at different stages in life.
You and I are alike in many ways. Living life, by definition, is all that we can know. By observing the people around you more fully, perhaps you can better understand humanity and yourself.
Imagine how strangers around you might physically appear at different stages of life. Do you see an elderly person? Try to imagine how they looked when they were a child. Do you see a child? Imagine how they’ll appear when they grow old.
This is an old trick many writers use when creating a character sketch. It really makes the observer think. It puts our short lives in perspective!
7. Ask yourself what a nearby person will do next.
Here’s another clever trick. Do you see a stranger nearby? Watch them for a bit from the corner of your eye. What do you think they’ll do next? Then afterward, ask yourself why your guess was right or wrong.
By gaining insights into human behavior, you’ll better appreciate the paths and turns of other minds. And you’ll see why humans have fashioned their world as it is. For better or worse.
And, of course, you’ll learn something about your own inclinations and perceptions.
8. Understand what people are thinking.
One more mental exercise that anyone can try. This is quite possibly the most difficult. Imagine or deduce what a nearby person is thinking. Can you see their thoughts in their eyes? In their gestures? In their actions?
How do you think they see the world?
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Do you like to read short pieces of thought-provoking fiction? You might enjoy checking out Short Stories by Richard.
A small handwritten sign seen in a San Diego window. The danger of falling in love is falling in love.
Here are some wise (or seemingly wise) signs that I’ve photographed during my walks around downtown San Diego. Some enlighten passersby, some add a touch of lightness or levity to daily life.
If there is one thing that Republicans and Democrats can agree on is that coffee is Great! Indeed, many things in life are.Perhaps this is wise. Perhaps not. Play today, work mañana.Hazard. One small word to the wise, warning of unseen danger under the deceptively peaceful water of San Diego Bay.More wise philosophy inside a downtown window. Live in the moment, take chances, be here now, tell someone how much they mean to you.Sign on San Diego sidewalk with a powerful, insightful quote. With our thoughts we make the world. Buddha.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Do you like to read short philosophical stories? You might enjoy checking out Short Stories by Richard.
These very short works of fiction attempt to dissect human life using sudden, sharp cutting edges. The revelations can be surprising.
Many endings are uplifting. Some aren’t.
Almost every time I reread one of my stories I make changes. New eyes–new dissatisfaction–new inspiration. So you might notice they’ve evolved a bit. Hopefully for the better. To read, click the links:
A photography blog concerning “Cool San Diego Sights” probably isn’t the best place to post unrelated works of fiction, so I started a new writing website! It’s called Short Stories by Richard. That’s where I’ve published my new story.
Unlike my other writing blog, Foolyman Stories, which is mostly just silly nonsense, Short Stories by Richard contains thoughtful pieces that are meant to challenge minds and touch hearts. I’d be honored if you checked it out!
What lies ahead? I don’t know! Come along for the ride! Perhaps we’ll be surprised!
Here’s another very short story I wrote this morning. It might be somewhat true. I simply had to get these words out of my system. Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
A MIRACLE ON SIXTH AVENUE
by Richard
John walked slowly toward his parked car. Sixth Avenue was just another street in the city.
Without thinking, he searched the sidewalk with downcast eyes. Cigarette butts, rotting food, a discarded bottle, a dead cockroach, bits of toilet paper. Disgusting stains, crushed things.
A plume of smoke up ahead caught his attention.
As he neared, John noticed a crowd of people had gathered close to the rising black smoke. Excited faces were staring down at the freeway from an overpass.
A van was on fire below. Traffic on the freeway had been stopped by a police car with flashing lights, and two firemen with a hose were getting ready to put out the flames. The empty van, alone on the concrete, simply burned, nothing more.
At least forty people on the overpass leaned forward to stare down at the freeway. More were arriving, drawn by the smoke, as ants are drawn to sugar. Every person in the crowd held up a phone, carefully framing a photograph. A photograph of an empty van on fire.
The people checked their phone, appeared unsatisfied, changed the angle, held it higher. Needing to capture destruction, meaningless and distant. They watched with perfect fascination and took a second and third picture. A hundred identical photographs.
John kept walking. He’d never before felt such a wave of disgust.
That night he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t purge from his mind that crush of people. Gawking, predictable, animal humanity, eagerly recording flames and black smoke, because flames and black smoke seemed exciting. Why? For what reason?
People were shallow and disgusting.
But what in the world is new?
And so John walked from his parked car up Sixth Avenue the next morning, a remnant of that dark shadow in his mind.
The sun was up. At the overpass there was no smoke. Cars passed in a blur on the concrete below. The incident was erased. Time swallows everything. Just different trash on the sidewalk.
“Good morning,” said an approaching person. The stranger’s eyes were wide, directly meeting John’s own eyes. A sincere, friendly smile was on the stranger’s lips.
With love and (what seems) magic we can actually change the entire world. I’m absolutely serious.
Here’s a very short story I wrote a couple months ago. It seems to affect people deeply. I’m going to reblog the story just this once. Perhaps you might enjoy reading it. The story is titled An Unexpected Sunflower. Simply click the link. As you will see, you can truly change the world.
I was struck by the strange beauty of these two photographs. Both had been forgotten. They’re just small glimpses of the world that were stored in my computer; I don’t recall where or when I took them.
What is perfection? To be perfect is to exactly match a defined ideal. So it’s illuminating that in a world where almost nothing is considered perfect, beauty can be seen everywhere. At every moment, throughout life. Age, wear, a wrinkle, a missing petal: and the beauty persists, flourishes. For beauty to be seen, just open eyes. Open them wide. This world’s beauty is even more simple than a lifeless ideal. And more substantial.
Stick together. An easy way to add a few missing petals.
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Enjoy random observations and fun photos! You can follow this blog on Facebook or Twitter.
People walk down a Hillcrest sidewalk past chalk street art dreams.
Human dreams are wildly varied and ever-changing. I saw proof of this in Hillcrest. Dozens of desires have been documented at a street corner on University Avenue, written in chalk on what appears to be a very large chalkboard. People passing by have paused for a moment to write what they would like to accomplish before they die.
This dynamic neighborhood, just north of downtown San Diego, is youthful and worldly. Those who’ve chosen to contribute to this participative street art have listed many dreams. Some are crude, some are desperate, some are erased. Some are possible, some are impossible. Some are profound. The absurd and the serious mingle together. Some dreams are mere whims, other dreams are ambitious. Some are selfish, some are unselfish.
Before I die I want to… Hunt mud ducks. Feel I am worthy.Save the world. Make love. Visit Paris. Meet my biological parents.Publish a book. Drink one more drink.Find hidden treasure. Find Waldo.People walk toward Alibi as they review reasons for living.
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Walking past a plaque which is engraved with one of many important quotes by Martin Luther King Jr.
I frequently walk along the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade in downtown San Diego. Whenever I do, I like to randomly read some of the historic MLK quotes that are engraved in plaques along the long pathway. I’ve never counted the number of quotes. There are easily dozens. Every quote on every plaque is important and powerful, and reflects the intelligence, energy, optimism and wisdom of America’s great civil rights leader.
Here are photos taken at different times of a few of Dr. King’s quotes…
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.The deep rumbling of discontent that we hear today is the thunder of disinherited masses, rising from dungeons of oppression to the bright hills of freedom in one majestic chorus.Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives.We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the Earth like brothers.Two people walk side-by-side down the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade in downtown San Diego.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.The democratic ideal of freedom and equality will be fulfilled for all–or all human beings will share in the resulting social and spiritual doom…The greatest victory of the civil rights period was something internal…We armed ourselves with dignity and self-respect…We straightened our backs up…The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.Any law that uplifts human personality is just, any law that degrades human personality is unjust.Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.Breaking the Chains sculpture, by Melvin Edwards, reminds people on MLK Promenade of the positive legacy of a great civil rights leader.
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